Art of shoe stiffening



Oct. 22, 1935. L. AYERS 2,018,245

' -ART OF SHOE STIFF'ENING Filed May 6, 1935 Patented Oct. 22, 1935 ARTOF SHOE STIFFENING Fred -L. Ayers, Watertown, Mass, assignor to BrownCompany, Berlin, N. H., a corporation of Maine Application May 6, 1933,Serial No. 669,702

2 Claims. (Cl. 36-68) 'Ihis invention relates to the art'of shoestiffening and more particularly to the stiffening or reinforcement ofthe rear or back part of the shoe by a stiffener element generallytermed a 5 counten. 1

Heretofore, two forms of counter have been in general use, one that iscalled the fiat counter and the other the molded counter. The flatcounter, which is usually composed entirely of leather, is customarilyput into the highest grade of shoe, since after it has been mulled orsoftened in water and assembled with the shoe upper, the assembly can beconformed nicely to the shape of the last. The shoe is left on the lastfor a period of some days so that the counter may set permanently initsaccurately conformed shape. A serious objection to the fiat counter isthe cost factor, because it has to be made from a good grade of leatherand it must receive considerable careful manipulation by the shoemakerin being conformed properly to the last.

.- The molded counter is made from leather or leather-board. The aim ofthe manufacturer of this form of counter is to mold each counter exactlyto the finished shape which it is to assume before it is assembled withthe shoe upper. In such case,,the operation performed in the shoefactory on the counter is simply one of dipping it into an adhesivecomposition which cements the shoe lining and the shoe upper stock tothe counter. An advantage inhering in this form of counter is that theshoe-making period may be shortened for the reason that the counterneeds no manipulation on the last and that once assembled with the shoeupper, the shoe, so far as concerns the counter, may be removed from thelast as soon as complete drying of the adhesive has taken place. Aserious objection to this form of counter is that it does not in' allcases assume the last lines with the best accuracy. The reason why itdoes not so do in all cases is because most shoe factories do not carrymolded counters of such a variety of contours and shapes as to fit lastsfor all sizes and styles of shoes manufactured therein. Again, thecounter manufacturer does not care to invest money in large numbers ofmolds whose differences .are minute so far as concerns the contour andthe shape of the counters produced thereby. In other words, themanufacturer of molded counters endeavors to satisfy the trade with anumber of standard counters.

To sum up, therefore, the flat counter while giving the best results isdifficult to manipulate and costly. The molded counter, on the otherhand, is undesirable from the standpoint of fine shoemaking, but it isinexpensive and easy to assemble with the shoe upper,

Among the further qualities desired in a counter is resilient stiffnessconsistent with pli- '5 ancy or flexibility such as makes for comfort tothe shoe wearer. The resilience should be such that a deforming stressexerted on the counter and then removed will not cause permanentdistortion of the counter. Yet the resilience or ability of the counterto recover from a distorting force should not militate againstrelatively free fleX ng of the counter to accommodate the movement ofthe wearers foot. The flat, all-leather counter, which'is molded withthe shoe upperto the shape of the last, answers well these requirementsto their very edge portions whereat they are skived to a feather edge soas to prevent discomforting and unsightly ridges being raised inthe'lining next to the foot or in the shoe upper stock. The moldedcounter possesses the ,desideratum of resilience, but an inevitableresult of pre-molding is that it condenses the counter stock to acondition where it is too stifliy resilient. This is especially truewhen inferior grades of leather or leatherboard constitute the stock forthe molded counter, although it is possible to produce even 'a moldedcounter possessing the requisite pliancy or flexibility,

In accordance with the present invention, I prepare what may be termedforconvenience of designation a partially shaped counter whose shapingand conformation to completion may be readily and accurately effectedafter it has been assembled with ashoe upper and the assembly is putthrough lasting and the other shoe-making operations and which possessesthe desirable qualities of both the flat form of counter and the fullymolded form of counter. While some high grades of leather may beemployed as the counter stock undergoing the treatment of the presentinvention, nevertheless the inventive principles apply more particularlyto a counter stock consisting essentially of a felted fibrous base whichhas been impregnated with a suitable latex composition and then .dried;Such a counter stock simulates leather in many important respects,including appearance, feel, residual porosity or fbreathing. quality,toughness, pliability,' etc.

With the foregoing and other features and objects in View, the presentinvention will now be described in greater detail with particularreference to the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure 1 represents theflat counter blank serv; 55

2 ing as the starting element for the partially shaped counter of thepresent invention.

Figure 2 illustrates in perspective a partially shaped counter embodyingthe present invention.

Figure 3 is a side view of the partially shaped counter.

Figure 4 depicts a finished shoe containing the completely shapedcounter, the stiffened rear part of the shoe being shown in section.

Figure 5 shows the stiffened rear part of the shoe in perspective, theupper stock being lifted away from the completely shaped counter so asto show up the latter to best advantage.

As shown in Figure 1, a fiat counter blank i may be cut or died out fromsuitable counter stock, preferably an artificial leather consistingessentially of a rubber-impregnated, felted fibrous foundation of thecharacter already described. The bottom edge of the blank 2 may benotched at its center 3 and at the regions 4 somewh'at re moved from theside edges to afford the usual indicia of the size of the counter. It ispreferable that all the marginal edges of the flat blank be skived asordinarily. The blank is first partially shaped in a suitable mold topossess merely the general outline of a counter,-which, as best shown inFigure 2, includes a bottom flange 5 corresponding to the heel seatofthe shoe. The gradual turn from the flange 5 to the substantiallyunbent front endportions 6 may, as best seen in Figure 3, be completedat a point I located approximately midway between the extreme back lineof the counter and its front edges. The flange may, however, continue toa point farther removed from the extreme back line of the counter, butit is preferable that the front ,end portions remain substantiallyunbent from the front edge to a point removed at least about one-thirdof the distance from the front edges of the counter to its extreme backline. The flange 5 affords a stop or limiting guide which enables theshoemaker to seat the counter quickly and accurately on the heel portionof the last. The unbent front edge portions Sextend in a divergentrelation to, each other, as shown in Figure 2, and this permits theshaping of the counter to be completed on a wide variety of sizes andstyles of lasts.

Before being incorporated into the shoe upper, the partially shapedcounter is preferably dipped into a bath of suitable adhesivecomposition, preferably an aqueous adhesive composition, such as rubberlatex, compounded with suitable stiffening agents of the nature of'dextrin or starch paste, animal glues, water-soluble gums or the like.The composition of the bath of adhesive, for instance, the compoundedrubber latex, may be controlled so as to impart to the completely shapedand'set stiffener in the shoe the desired degree of stiffness. Theimmersion of the partially shaped counter into the adhesive bath need beonly a momentary one such as ensures a wetting and coating of itssurfaces with adhesive.

The counter while still wet with adhesive is assembled between thelining 8 and the upper stock 9 of the shoe upper and the assembly islasted and put through the other customary shoemaking operations toproduce a finished shoe, as depicted in Figure 4. In consequence ofthese operations, the bottom flange 5 is completed and made to liesnugly against the insole l0 and the front end portions and the rest ofthe counter made to assume faithfully the last lines, as illustrated inFigure 5.

An important advantage of my invention is that it makes possible the useof only a single preshaping mold for the production of partially shapedcounters of such character that they can be used advantageously in allsizes of shoes and styles of lasts. It is, however, preferable to provide two standard pre-shaping molds, one for a lower range of sizes andanother for an upper range of sizes. For instance, in the case of womensshoes, one mold may be designed for partially shaped counters to be usedin shoes up to a size of about 6 /2, and another mold for partiallyshaped counters to be used in shoes of a size greater than 6 Anotheradvantage realized by my invention is that excessive pressures areunnecessary either during the partial shaping operation or during thelast stage of shaping or conformation that takes place on the lastduring customary shoe-making operations. This is particularly true whenthe counter stock is an artificial leather such as I preferably employ.In molding counters to completion in a single step, as heretoforepracticed, such artificial leather undergoes a diminution of thicknessunder such heavy pressure as must necessarily be applied in such case.Since a certain finished thickness is demanded, a greater thickness ofcounter stock is necessary at the start in such case; and such extramaterial increases the stiffness of the counter to an objectionabledegree. Accordingly, the practice of my invention is particularly usefulwhen it is desired to preserve the bulk and flexibility of the counterstock at a maximum.

1. A partially shaped counter composed essentially of a felted fibrousbase impregnated with rubber and having a bottom flange only at theregion corresponding to the heel seat, the front .end portions beingsubstantially unbent and extending in divergent relation to each other,said rubber-impregnated base being possessed of resid ual porosity orbreathing quality and being readily and accurately moldable in thelasting operation to the shape of the last after only a short immersionin an aqueous bath.

2. A partially shaped counter composed essen tially of a felted fibrousrubber and having a bottom flange at the region corresponding to theheel seat, the front end portions being substantially unbent from thefront edge to a point removed at least about one-third of the distancefrom the front edge of the counter to its extreme back line and saidfront end portions extending in divergent relation to each other, saidrubber-impregnated base being possessed of residual porosity orbreathing quality and being readily and accurately moldable in thelasting operation to the shape of the last after only a short immersionin an aqueous bath.

FRED L. AYERS.

base impregnated with

